ramble - jonathanis.online

A neon sign on a tiled wall reads "Will you stand Bánh Mì?"

Weeknotes 2022.2

Somehow—I’m not sure how—I have managed to avoid getting COVID. I did get worried after a coughing bout on Friday (when air pollution in London was appalling) but my PCR came back negative. I’ve reduced the amount of time my computer(s) allow me to use

reviews

Things I have enjoyed in 2021

I haven’t been especially active blogging in 2021 (as if that’s anything new) so I thought I’d list some of the things I’ve enjoyed reading, watching etc. this year. Good LGBT Representation is Boring (and why that's a problem), by Verity Ritchie: this video essay touches

politics

Hobson’s choice

Our poll cards for the May elections came in the post last week. Because we live in Newham, in addition to the mayoral elections, we have a referendum on how the council should be run. The current Mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, campaigned on allowing this referendum to take place—after ousting

ramble

Inspecting my own little role in the consent manufacturing machine

Sometime between 2012 and 2013, I wrote a short story called Random Access. This was a Black Mirror-a-like drama in which a person attached to an EEG could ‘re-live’ their memories, rendered in a video game. The other day, I removed the story from public view on this

ramble

Must it be like this?

I had a breakdown on my bike today. I was out recording cycle routes for people going to the Nightingale Hospital for their COVID shot (this one a route from Barking) and got a puncture for my trouble. As I stopped and seethed on the waterfront of Royal Albert Dock,

ramble

A view of the blogging landscape, March 2021

WordPress: feels like operating a laser printer. I mean, it works, but you can easily spend an hour fighting with it or spilling toner over yourself. Keep coming back to it out of familiarity even though it feels like a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Tumblr: fun to